The first shipments of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine departed a manufacturing facility early Sunday morning -- and Gov. Phil Murphy has announced where the first doses in New Jersey will be administered.
Murphy says the first vaccines will be administered at University Hospital in Newark. He, alongside Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, will be at the hospital Tuesday morning for the first inoculations.
"We're gonna be putting shots in the arm Tuesday morning in Newark, this is coming. I think by April, May, everyone will have access to one of these vaccines," Murphy said on ABC's "This Week."
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Health care workers and residents at long-term care facilities are expected to be the first groups to get the vaccine.
Six hospitals across the state will have the vaccine “pre-positioned” so they can begin administering soon after approval is granted, she said.
Persichilli didn’t specify which hospitals they were, but the state’s approach to tracking hospitalizations from the vaccine has centered on northern, central and southern regions, suggesting the hospitals would be located around the state.
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New Jersey, like the rest of the country, has seen a resurgence of the virus, with daily caseloads climbing above their highest points in the spring. The rolling weekly average has also ticked up steadily.
On Saturday, Murphy reported an addition 71 deaths and 6,247 new cases of the virus.
